BERKELEY -- Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour made her first public comments in two weeks on the football coaching search Wednesday, telling this newspaper, "We're getting close. Real close."

Earlier, Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports tweeted that Barbour told him the Bears would have a coach in place by next week. She phoned to say she merely gave a one-word confirmation when asked if she expected to have a coach hired by then.

While a source told the Bay Area News Group that coach Mike MacIntyre no longer is a candidate for the Cal job, Louisiana Tech's Sonny Dykes apparently is still in play for the job. Louisiana Tech athletic director Bruce Van De Velde, who was comfortable talking on the subject Monday, said Wednesday in a phone interview, "I can't comment on any coaching speculation."

Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour made her first public comments in two weeks on the football coaching search Wednesday, telling this newspaper, "We're getting close. Real close." (Dan Honda / Bay Area News Group)